The Longevity Family: Starting from the Foundation Establishment Ancestor

Boom!

Black seawater, mixed with broken rocks, cascaded down like a waterfall from the heavens, instantly submerging most of the underwater cave. From the icy water, two figures radiating overwhelming demonic energy descended with a deafening roar—it was none other than the Black Heaven Dao Venerable and the White Abyss Dao Venerable!

The terrifying pressure, like a tangible mountain, pressed down heavily on Han Mu and the others. Except for Han Li, who could barely maintain his balance, Liu Ruyan, Bai Ling, and the others were all pale and struggling to breathe. Zhou Meng even let out a muffled groan, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. This was the absolute suppression of a Dao Venerable over those below the Golden Immortal realm; the mere aura was enough to render them powerless to resist.

"Little mice, you escaped pretty fast." Black Heaven Dao Venerable hovered in mid-air, his black robes fluttering, surrounded by black mist. His eyes, like abysses, swept over the crowd, finally settling on Han Mu, or rather, on the lingering image of the Space-Time Beacon in Han Mu's hand that hadn't been completely put away. "Space-Time Beacon... it really is you! Hand it over, and I'll give you a quick death."

Daoist Bai Yuan remained silent, standing there indifferently. The chilling aura emanating from him caused the surrounding seawater to freeze, blocking all escape routes. His gaze was primarily fixed on Han Li, tinged with scrutiny.

There was no escape, no way to avoid it. Faced with two genuine Dao Venerables, one of whom was at the peak of the Dao Venerable realm, any struggle seemed futile.

Han Mu took a deep breath, suppressing the churning of his blood and the exhaustion of his soul, and stepped forward, shielding the others behind him. His face showed no despair, but rather a strange calm.

"The two Dao Venerables personally pursuing this matter truly honors me," Han Mu said calmly, his gaze sweeping over the two men in black and white. "However, whether you have the ability to obtain the Dao Marker remains to be seen."

"Oh? You? A heavily injured Golden Immortal?" Hei Tian sneered, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world. He didn't take Han Mu seriously at all. What really made him slightly wary was the silver-haired old man with an obscure aura beside him.

Han Mu stopped wasting words, summoned the system panel, and quickly glanced at it:

Name: Han Mu

[True Realm: Half-step Great Luo (Severely injured and weakened, soul damaged)]

[Surface Realm: Mid-stage True Immortal (Disguised)]

[Time Rule: Small Success Rate 2%]

[Celestial Aura: 3102 points]

[Status: Depleted essence and blood, turbulent spirit, slightly contaminated reincarnation power]

[Available trump cards: Immortal Coffin (requires a large amount of immortal power to activate, cannot be used in the current state), Time Reversal (usable, but will worsen the injury), Blood Burning Escape Technique (not yet mastered)]

The system shop scrolled rapidly, finally settling on a few items: [Nine-Turn Rejuvenation Pill (Fragment)], [Boundary-Breaking Teleportation Talisman (Random)], [Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique (Disposable Jade Slip)]. The first two required over five thousand units of immortal spiritual energy, only the last one…

[Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique (One-Time Jade Slip): Consumes 3000 points of Immortal Spiritual Energy to exchange. Upon use, it instantly burns all essence, lifespan, and origin to gain power a hundred times greater than the user's own, lasting for ten breaths. After ten breaths, the physical body collapses, the soul is severely damaged, and the cultivation level drops, with an extremely high risk of death. (Note: This is a forbidden demonic technique; use with caution!)]

Three thousand points, just enough. Ten breaths, a hundredfold power… that's more than enough! A resolute glint flashed in Han Mu's eyes. Facing a Dao Venerable, any conventional methods were a joke; only by fighting to the death could he have a sliver of hope!

"System, redeem the [Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique]!"

[Exchange successful, consuming 3000 points of Immortal Spirit Energy.]

[Remaining Celestial Spirit Energy: 102 points.]

[WARNING: Serious consequences may result from use. Please confirm...]

Han Mu completely ignored the warning, and a blood-red jade slip quietly appeared in his hand. Without any hesitation, under the slightly mocking and cat-and-mouse-like gazes of the two Dao Venerables, he crushed the jade slip.

"Playing tricks!" Black Heaven Dao Venerable sneered, flicking his finger, and a black finger wind of extreme refinement shot silently toward Han Mu's brow. This seemingly casual finger strike contained Dao principles, enough to easily annihilate any Golden Immortal.

However, the disdain on Hei Tian's face froze the next moment.

Om-!

A violent, ferocious, and terrifying aura, seemingly emanating from the primordial wilderness, suddenly erupted from Han Mu's seemingly frail body! Crimson flames burst forth, instantly engulfing Han Mu's entire body. These were no ordinary flames, but the life-fire ignited by burning his essence, lifespan, and even the foundation of his Dao! Within the flames, Han Mu's aura soared like a rocket, instantly breaking through the Golden Immortal realm and reaching a level that made both Hei Tian and Bai Yuan pale in comparison!

"Burning Blood Forbidden Technique? Are you insane?!" Daoist Baiyuan spoke for the first time, his voice filled with surprise and doubt. Once this forbidden technique was used, it was almost a suicidal attack, and the price was so high that even Daoist Baiyuan was unwilling to bear it.

"Stop him!" Black Heaven Dao Venerable reacted swiftly, though shocked, he was even more furious, feeling as if he had been provoked by an ant. He clasped his hands together, and boundless darkness surged forth, transforming into a gigantic hand that blotted out the sky, slamming down fiercely towards Han Mu. Bai Yuan also attacked at the same time, his icy energy condensing into countless ice crystal spears, sealing off all of Han Mu's escape routes.

"Ten breaths!" Han Mu counted silently in his mind, feeling the terrifying power within his body—powerful enough to destroy the heavens and the earth, yet also incredibly violent and capable of backfiring at any moment. He did not choose to confront the attacks of the two Dao Venerables head-on. He activated the Law of Time to its fullest extent, and with the support of a hundredfold increase in power, his control over time reached an unprecedented level.

"Time...slows down!"

The silent ripples spread, and the two Dao Venerables, one black and one white, were horrified to discover that their attacks—the sky-covering black palm and the sky-filling ice spears—had suddenly slowed down by more than ten times! Not only that, their own movements and thoughts also seemed to have sunk into a quagmire, becoming incredibly sluggish.

"The law of time? How could it be so fast?!" Black Sky was shocked. He finally understood why Green Wood valued this kid so much.

"First breath!" Han Mu shouted, his figure moving like a ghost, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake before his true form appeared beside Liu Ruyan and the others. He made a grasping motion with both hands, and the power of spacetime surged, forcibly creating a silver passage through the gaps in the attacks that had been slowed by the two Dao Venerables. At the end of the passage was a violent and chaotic void current.

"Fellow Daoist Han Li, take them away! To the Shattered Void Stream!" Han Mu channeled a surge of power into Han Li, helping him briefly resist the pressure of the Dao Venerable, and at the same time handed him a jade talisman imprinted with coordinates. It was the coordinates of the nearest relatively safe void node that he had deciphered from the spacetime beacon, located on the edge of the infamous perilous place "Shattered Void Stream".

"Senior Han!" Liu Ruyan exclaimed, as if she wanted to say something.

"Go!" Han Mu said without hesitation, waving his hand. The powerful force of spacetime directly swept Liu Ruyan, Bai Ling, Zhou Meng, Li Qingzhu, Lin Fan, and Lin Xue, along with Han Li, into the silver passage. The passage closed instantly.

"Second breath!" Having done all this, Han Mu turned around, facing the Black and White Dao Venerables who were almost breaking free from the time-slowing effect, his eyes burning with blood-red flames. He needed to buy them time to escape.

"Want to leave? Stay here!" Black Heaven Dao Venerable roared, unleashing the power of darkness and forcefully breaking free from the constraints of time slowing. His giant palm turned and struck the disappearing ripples of the passage.

"Your opponent is me!" Han Mu grinned, revealing a blood-stained, crazed smile. He stopped dodging and instead met the overwhelming black palm head-on with a punch! The fist, amplified a hundredfold in power, was wreathed in crimson flames and silver spatial energy, shattering space wherever it passed.

"The third breath!"

boom!!!

The fists and palms collided, but there was no earth-shattering roar, only an eerie silence. Then, centered on the point of impact, a pitch-black spatial rift suddenly exploded, frantically devouring everything around it—seawater, rubble, even light! A violent spatial turbulence swept out.

"Pfft!" Han Mu was sent flying backward, countless bones shattered, and even his crimson flames dimmed considerably. Black Heaven Dao Venerable also shuddered, taking three steps back, a faint white mark appearing on his palm. His eyes blazed with killing intent; a mere ant had actually managed to injure him!

"Fourth breath!" Using the force of the recoil, Han Mu turned around without hesitation and rushed into the depths of the cave in the opposite direction from where Liu Ruyan and the others had fled! He was going to lure the two Dao Venerables away!

"Chase him! He can't hold out much longer!" Daoist Baiyuan shouted coldly, transforming into a streak of white light in pursuit. Daoist Heitian also suppressed his anger, his figure merging into the darkness, following closely behind. They realized that Han Mu was at his last gasp; once the forbidden technique's duration expired, he would undoubtedly die. As for those small fry who escaped, they could be found even by searching the entire Chaos Sea after obtaining the Spacetime Beacon.

"Fifth breath, sixth breath..." Han Mu fled desperately through the dilapidated cave passage, two terrifying auras relentlessly pursuing him. He felt his power rapidly fading, and waves of pain and weakness washed over him. The sound of rushing water came from ahead, suggesting he was nearing the end of the passage.

"The seventh breath!" Suddenly, the view opened up to a massive underwater cliff. Beyond the cliff lay a bottomless, slowly rotating black vortex, emanating a chilling, devouring power. Further away, a terrifying area of ​​distorted light and shattered space could be vaguely seen—the forbidden zone known as "Shattered Void Flow."

"Eighth breath!" Without hesitation, Han Mu rushed towards the black vortex. This was his planned escape route; the depths of the vortex contained extremely strong spatial turbulence, which might be able to disrupt the pursuit.

"Where do you think you're going!" came the angry roar of the Black Heaven Dao Venerable, and a dark hand reached out from across space to grab him.

"Ninth breath!" Han Mu burned his last bit of strength, pushing his speed to the limit, narrowly dodging the giant hand, and plunged headlong into the black vortex. A violent spatial tearing force instantly came.

"The tenth breath..." In the last moment of his blurred consciousness, Han Mu seemed to see an enormous shadow lurking on the rock wall at the edge of the vortex. The shadow seemed to move and opened a pair of cold and ruthless vertical pupils.

Then, he was swallowed up by endless darkness and turbulent currents.

……

After an unknown amount of time, Han Mu was awakened by a violent shaking. He found himself lying on a floating boulder, surrounded by bizarre and constantly tearing and healing spatial rifts, with even more violent streams of shattered space flowing in the distance. He was in excruciating pain, his meridians were shattered, and his cultivation level had plummeted to the early stage of True Immortal, becoming extremely unstable. The backlash from forcibly using the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Technique had begun; it was a miracle he had survived.

He struggled to sit up and immediately summoned the system panel to check his status, which was indeed a bright red warning. His elixirs had long been exhausted in the previous battle, and his immortal energy was reduced to only 102 points—a drop in the ocean.

He needed to find a relatively safe place to heal as soon as possible, otherwise even a small spatial rift could kill him. Han Mu forced himself to stay awake and looked around. This seemed to be a relatively calm area on the edge of the Shattered Void Stream, with many boulders of varying sizes floating around.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened. On a large rock not far away, there seemed to be a figure lying prone, and the clothing... looked somewhat familiar.

He carefully used his remaining immortal power to move the boulder beneath his feet closer.

Upon closer inspection, it was revealed to be a woman dressed in a light blue palace gown, unconscious. The woman was extremely beautiful, with a speck of cinnabar between her brows, but her face was pale, her breath weak, and she bore multiple wounds, emanating an eerie black aura. Most striking was the broken jade flute she clutched tightly in her hand; the flute still radiated powerful spiritual energy, clearly indicating it was no ordinary object.

"This woman... her cultivation is at least at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm, and she might even be a half-step Dao Venerable. How could she be so badly injured and end up on the edge of the Shattered Void Stream?" Han Mu wondered, and at the same time became wary. Anyone who could appear near the Shattered Void Stream was definitely not an ordinary person.

He hesitated whether to approach and check on her when the unconscious woman's eyelashes suddenly fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes. They were eyes as clear as autumn water, yet filled with endless weariness and vicissitudes.

Eyes facing each other.

When the woman saw Han Mu, a hint of confusion and wariness flashed in her eyes at first. Then, as if sensing that Han Mu was also seriously injured and weak, and that he meant no harm, her wariness lessened slightly. Her lips parted slightly, and her voice, though weak, was clear:

"Did you...save me?"

Before Han Mu could answer, another change occurred!

"hiss--!"

The once calm black "seawater" below suddenly churned violently, and an enormous, ferocious head, comparable to a mountain, suddenly emerged. It was a giant serpent, entirely black, covered in eerie scales, and with a single horn on its head! It was the shadow that Han Mu had glimpsed before he lost consciousness!

The giant snake's cold, vertical pupils locked onto Han Mu and the woman in green on the boulder. Its scarlet forked tongue flickered, radiating a terrifying pressure comparable to that of a Daoist master!

A new crisis! The Blackwater Serpent!